Posts Tagged ‘elderly volunteering’

There are many senior citizens who want to work again despite the limitations that society imposes on them. While there are physical limitations to the kind of work that they are able to do, elderly individuals must be permitted to take on jobs that will help them to continue to lead a happy, productive life. With the current state of the economy, jobs for anyone are hard to come by or find, but that is not saying that it’s an impossible task to accomplish. Work for the elderly is more difficult due to limitations and age, however, jobs for the elderly can be found if you know where to look.

For the most part, elderly work should be free from strenuous activities. This includes jobs that require a lot of movement, lifting heavy objects, or stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Physical exhaustion and too much effort would not be conducive to a job for an elderly individual.

What sort of work would then be appropriate for an elderly individual given these conditions? This job should not only be physically mild but also it needs to be meaningful. A job for an elderly individual does not need to be monotonous or absent of emotion to be a good fit for them.

The elderly could work from home and earn money and feel fulfilled without leaving home. There are many job opportunities out there for those who want to work without leaving home. These types of jobs can be based on previous employment such as tutoring, teaching piano, or a craft.

Many elderly want to reach out to others and often either volunteer for charities or non-government organizations. There are many opportunities for elderly social work that is open for employees as well as volunteers. This can be a rewarding experience.

Leading a happy and fulfilled life does not stop at retirement. There are plenty of work opportunities for the elderly that will allow them to earn a bit of money and feel productive as well as feel good about themselves by helping their community. Being happy, productive and fulfilled can lead to a healthier mental well-being.

The Christmas season is a beautiful time of the year full of friends, family, presents, and yummy goodies. In the hustle and bustle of this busy season, the elderly and shut-ins are often overlooked. There are many ways to squeeze in a little time to share with an elderly neighbor and make their holidays just a bit brighter.

Here are a few ideas but the sky is the limit!

Take a senior out to a special dinner. Check out local festivals, plays, tree lightings, or parties. Go tree shopping—an elderly person might enjoy helping you shop for a tree or even their own. Take them on a drive and look at the Christmas lights. Many areas have a ‘festival of lights’ show through a local park. Make sure on any outing that you consider any special needs and be sure you can

The elderly enjoy shopping; however due to no longer driving or mobility issues, they may not be able to get out much so taking them shopping could provide a nice service for them.

Help them do things that they are unable to do for themselves such as shoveling their sidewalk if it snows, helping them decorate the tree or how, or anything else they might need you to do for them.

Hugs and lots of them. Who doesn’t need a hug? For some reason, the elderly aren’t often touched and would welcome a genuine, heart-felt hug at Christmas.

Visit an elderly person in a nursing home or simply someone who is a shut in and bring them a Christmas card or a small gift.

Help the elderly through a local charity that supports seniors at the holidays. Charities are always looking for volunteers and can help you to find somewhere to volunteer your time.

The elderly are thankful for being remembered at Christmas and you will feel warmth in your heart for helping to make their holidays a bit brighter!

Caring for an elderly parent can be draining both emotionally and physically. Many times, adults are taking care of their elderly parent or parents while still trying to raise their own children.

As the parent becomes less independent and unable to care for his or her own needs, it becomes clear that you will have to take the needed steps to ensure that legal, personal, medical and financial interests are protected. One way to do this is to get a power of attorney drawn up so that you or someone you trust can act on your elderly parent’s behalf to make decisions that he or she can no longer make independently.

This is not an easy thing for an elderly parent or the child of the elderly parent. So it is very important to involve the parent in the preparations as much as possible. This leaves the parent feeling less helpless or left out of the process. Honor the parents’ wishes when possible; however, do realize that you are entrusted to act in your parent’s best interest even if the parent disagrees with you. It is also not a good idea to rely on those generic self-help legal software programs. For a delicate matter such as this, an experienced attorney to help decide what needs to be done is the better option. There are many factors that come into play with issues such as a power of attorney such as the present and long-term medical condition of the parent as well as their own personal wishes for how affairs are to be handled. Moreover, do not pressure your elderly parent into making life-changing decisions, especially when he or she is tired, hungry, restless or upset. Choose a time to talk and present the information gradually instead of all at one time. Keep everything relaxed and don’t force the issue.

Check back on Saturday, October 2, 2010 to learn the process of obtaining a power of attorney.

For many years, dogs have been trained to aid the blind. Now, in more recent years, animals are being trained for other medicinal purposes such as for those with seizures and the elderly.

Therapy animals are specifically chosen to visit nursing homes, senior centers, day care centers, hospitals, prisons, and children’s homes in hopes of bringing physical and emotional comfort to people. Oftentimes, these animals are just your everyday ordinary animal who has an owner who is willing and able to volunteer their time with their pet to those in need of some sort of comfort. Ideally, for an animal to be considered for an activity such as this, the animal should be sociable, gentle, friendly, not afraid, and has the ability to get along with anyone.

Many scientists and doctors alike believe that the mind-body connection is closely related. For example, those individuals who feel isolated (as many elderly do) have a tendency to give up on life. Also, people who are sick are more likely to heal and get well if they are happy and comfortable. This is where animal therapy comes in. There are many advantages of this type of non-conventional therapy, ranging from physical to emotional.

Therapy animals have been known to:

Lower blood pressure and cholesterol

Increase physical motivation

Decrease pain

Encourage speech

Make patients more receptive to medical treatment and eating

Generally increase a patient’s will to live

Therapy animals affect people of all ages in a positive way. The animals bring a myriad of emotional and physical benefits to those in hospitals, nursing homes, and other places. These animals are reported to save many lives and also provide love, kindness, and comfort in the finals hours of life for many individuals.

There are many easy projects that can be found for the elderly to do; however, it’s important to remember not to have a lengthy project to complete but to have one that can be completed in a relatively short time period.

Use your imagination! Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Make a collage. Have the individual look through magazines to see what pictures catch their attention or see what pictures can describe them. Also look for things that the person likes or possibly has a touching memory for them (for example, for me, fall images—leaves, pumpkins, etc. always give me a warm feeling). Cut out the pictures and glue them all to a piece of poster board. Use a glitter pen to decorate (mark their name at the top, etc.). Also using foam cut-outs (available at any craft store such as Michaels, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, and even Wal-Mart) to help decorate would be fun and many of the foam cut-outs are now self-adhesive. This is to be a sure hit! Allow them to assist as much as possible.

Make some greeting cards. Left over craft items (beads, cut-outs, etc.), card stock, colored markers and glue is all they need to create a card for any occasion!

Make some sugar cookies and decorate them! Not only is this fun but they get to eat what they created. Pass the milk…

These are just a few ideas. Motor skills and abilities might be impaired but with a little help, the possibilities are endless!

There are many ways to help the elderly. Many are so simple, yet many people do not think of them. Take a look at the list and see what you can do to help an elderly neighbor, relative, friend, or even a complete stranger. Do something—it will make you feel great!

Stop and Visit~Senior Citizens get lonely no matter where they are…home, nursing homes, assisted living. It only takes a few moments to stop in and say hello. It’s surprising how much of a difference this makes to senior citizens.

Do a Household Chore~Dust a high place that an elderly person might not be able to get to safely, scrub a floor, take out the trash…the list is virtually endless.

Read~Oftentimes, the elderly cannot see well any longer or at all and they want to know what is happening in the world. A book on tape is also a great little gift.

Cook a meal~The elderly have special nutritional needs and often they do not think about them. When you cook the next time, take a meal to an elderly person.

Check on them in bad weather~The elderly may not be able to get out.

Transportation~Give an elderly person a ride to the grocery store, bank, or medical appointment.

Play a game~The elderly enjoy playing cards and board games as it can give them a feeling of being young again. And that is an awesome feeling to have!

Make a phone call~Spare just a few minutes for a senior citizen and see how they are doing or just say hello. It helps the elderly not feel so alone and forgotten.

Check detectors~Make sure the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order; replace batteries.

Home Repairs~Check for small repairs that you could do such as patch a hole in a wall, wire an outlet, or fix a leaky sink.

This list is not all inclusive. There are many ways you can help out an elderly person. Check out your neighborhood or your local senior center to see what you can do to help!

If you are considering a job in working with the elderly or maybe just want to find a way to help others, volunteer work with the elderly can be a wonderful opportunity to make a difference for others.

Recent studies are showing that the abuse prevalence in nursing homes is dramatically more than many thought. In a frightening revelation, it was found that 1 out of every 3 senior citizens has been abused in one form or another.

There isn’t much doubt that helping those who need it by volunteering makes you feel good, after all you are helping someone else. Researchers are now finding out that volunteering may do a lot more than just philanthropy, it may actually help you live longer as well. In a study, conducted by Dr. Sei J. Lee and colleagues from the VA Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco, examined 6360 retirees older than 65 who enrolled the Health and Retirement Study in 2002.

Living, working and taking care of a loved one in a fairly large metropolitan area is a lot of work. Between spending time with your own friends and family and completing all of the responsibilities that you maintain for your loved one, doesn’t allow for much time to unwind. Whenever you need to carve some time out for yourself, for whatever reason, contact your Precious Home care professional. You can count on your Precious Home care professional to follow the schedule that your loved one has grown accustomed to.